Zaeed Massani and the Coward Vido Santiago
by thesarge400
Summary: Full Title: The Assassination of Zaeed Massani by the Coward Vido Santiago. Set when both Zaeed and Vido ran with the Blue Suns and how their friendship slowly frayed as differences between the two begin to boil over.
1. Chapter 1

The Assassination of Zaeed Massani by the Coward Vido Santiago

Disclaimer: Mass Effect and its properties are owned by Bioware, not me.

Just a series of short chapters displaying what I'd interpret as the slowly-fraying friendship between Zaeed and Vido when they still ran together in the Blue Suns. I always thought it would be a tale of friendship, betrayal, and revenge. Even though played out to a certain extent in Mass Effect 2, I wanted to go a bit deeper.

I hope you enjoy.

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><p><strong>Chora's Den, Citadel.<strong>

"I'm tellin' you, Zaeed. The batarians are some of the hardest workers I've seen and they're proven in battle. They'd be a great asset to the Suns!"

The mercenary merely leaned back and smiled, "They're goddamned terrorists, Vido. We're running a business here, can't have something like that tarnish what we've worked for."

With his gaze firmly locked on the rear-end of a dancer, Vido's reply was stunted for a moment, but soon he shouted over the throbbing bass to his partner, "Come on! I've got a handful of contacts on Omega that can set us up with a dozen of them, ready for work. And cheap to, at least for half of what we pay our current roster."

Zaeed just chuckled and took a swig of his drink, smiling as his throat burned from the harsh alcohol. "There's only one thing the batarians are good for."

"What's that?" Vido snorted as he poured a glass of whiskey for himself.

Lifting the bottle again, Zaeed's deep green gaze peered through the dark liquid, "Ale. Can't find stronger stuff, unless you're a krogan, that is."

Anyone could tell Vido was getting agitated, but Zaeed chose to ignore his partner as he took an even deeper swig from the bottle. The 'financial manager' of the Blue Suns leaned forward, mildly sipping his whiskey while staring at a dancer on the far side of the room. Her shirt was missing, giving a 'private session' to a male customer right as his table.

Zaeed began to laugh as he turned to look, "Heh, hell of a place, ain't it?"

"Yeah…" Vido grumbled, quickly downing the rest of his drink. "Not everyday you can watch a woman prance about with her tits out, can you?"

"What?" Zaeed turned to Vido. "Now you're gonna sulk? 'Cuz you didn't get your way? I have enough to worry about trying to manage Griggs and Riktus. I don't need to be looking over my shoulder every five seconds to make sure one of your damn batarians isn't takin' a bead on me."

"Come on," his friend hissed. "We're just barely breaking over even in this economy. Just think if those rumors about the void between the volus and turians are true. Do you ever think how badly we could end up?"

Not listening, Zaeed finished the bottle he had. Quickly beckoning a girl to come over, a very pretty asari, who did so without hesitation. Bending over, he whispered something to her. She then quickly stood and turned for the bar, but before receiving a slap to her rump.

Vido looked disgusted, "You're a pig, Zaeed."

A cocky smile, "And that's why you love me, mate."

"Let's see how much I love you when we both go broke." With that, Vido stormed off with whiskey in hand as his friend cackled with amusement.

Fishing a cigar from his pocket as he watched Vido leave the nightclub, Zaeed lit it and brought it to his lips. After a few quick puffs, the asari returned with a fresh bottle and placed it on the table. She then eagerly straddled the mercenary and slid her slender hands underneath his shirt.

"Now that he's gone," she purred with a rapidly growing grin. "_Embrace Eternity._"

Zaeed lightly chewed on the butt of his cigar, as if he was seriously considering denying her. "Here?"

"Here's as good a place as any."

He smiled, "You little tart. Come here."

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><p><strong>Private Quarters, MSV <strong>_**Iscariot**_**.**

"_So, what did your boss say?"_

Vido clucked his tongue, "He ain't my boss, Solem. We both own an equal share in this."

The hologram rolled his four eyes, _"Whatever. Can me and my boys join or not?"_

Tossing the now-empty bottle of whiskey off his desk, Vido leaned back in his chair, "Not that simple, Mister Dal'serah. It seems my compatriot doesn't believe batarians would fit in with the Suns." He shrugged. "He's being unreasonable, but I'll cut you a deal."

The batarian growled, crossing his arms, _"What kind of deal?"_

"I'll bring you and you alone onboard, put you through the paces of any Blue Suns greenhorn."

"_What of the rest of my men? We all have families to look after, they need work too!"_

"Prove to Zaeed that you can do the work better than any of his regulars, then I can convince him to hire anyone."

Silence fell between the two for a moment, the alien's sharp gaze fell to his feet for a moment. Vido merely watched the hologram of Solem with intent. The batarians were an ugly race to look at, but their brutality in combat was only bested by the krogan.

Finally the alien broke the silence. _"Where do I sign?"_

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><p>Hit me up with a review, if you're feeling it. These will get longer as I go.<p>

Peace.


	2. Chapter 2

"We're running a simple op. Get in, get the VIPs, get out." Zaeed brought the holo-table to life, showing a massive jungle planet. "This is the planet of Woodfall, originally an Systems Alliance colonization venture, but constant raiding from pirates, mercs, and slavers have forced the Alliance to look elsewhere. Since then, crime syndicates have made the jungles of Woodfall their haven for red sand production and a halfway-house for slaving ops."

Standing to peer at the representation of the planet, Yulan Griggs looked at his comrades, then back to planet, "Okay. But who are the VIPs, exactly?"

"Some quarians that were in-system on their Pilgrimage got picked up by a band of pirates. Taken down groundside and are being held against their will. The Flotilla has contacted us and is willing to pay a large sum for their safe return." Zaeed zoomed in to the northern continent of the planet. Three large buildings were brought up on the map, surrounded by several smaller structures. "The largest one in the center is used for the production red sand, it's heavily guarded and the grounds are patrolled routinely by heavily armed sons-of-bitches."

Griggs snorted, "But I'm guessing these people don't keep prisoners in their main facilities. Giving them a personal tour of their drug operation would be bad business."

"Correct. Which leaves us with these two remaining auxiliary buildings," they were highlighted in bright orange on the map, "and several, smaller surrounding ones. We don't which one has got the quarians, but they're somewhere in there. That's our point A." The map zoomed out several miles into the 'sky' of Woodfall, before spinning east. It revealed a large bay, where several rivers cut through the thick jungles to empty into it. Sandy beachheads lined the edges, almost looking like a resort.

"That's point B." Zaeed stated. "It will be our insertion point and our extraction point. The reason I picked this lovely spot, is that exactly one click inland, any ship that attempts to land anywhere near that facility will be blown out of the sky. These people have set up AA emplacements all over the area. Once we hit that beach, we hoof it all the way in and out."

"Great." Griggs chuckled. "I'm sure Elfie would've loved dodgin' flak though."

Ignoring his commentary, Zaeed pulled up a list of Blue Suns personnel, "Griggs, you're leading group Alpha. It'll consist Sergeant Harin and four of his men. I'll take Riktus with group Bravo and four other boys. We'll hit the beach, split up and hit this facility from the north and south, respectively. Any questions?"

Leaving the farthest corner of the room that the alien inhabited, Riktus finally spoke up, "Which group is our four-eyed recruit gonna tag along with?"

The mere mention of the batarian made Zaeed's blood boil a little bit. Vido deliberately went behind his back, hired the alien, and immediately brought him onboard as a greenhorn. He made sure to have a little 'chat' with his compatriot about proper business practice when they got back.

Zaeed didn't like having this batarian around one bit. But since the kid came all the way out here, might as well see if he could be any use. If not, he could leave him on Woodfall and that'd be the end of it.

"He's with Griggs." The human visibly flinched when he heard his name. "Anything else?"

Silence.

"Suit up and get your gear in check. We launch in two hours."

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><p>Solem waited in silence. He listened to the thrum of the <em>Iscariot's <em>mass effect drive as he sat on what could pass for a tiny bunk. Being stuffed right next to the engine room, Solem was forced to bunk by himself aboard the flagship of the Blue Suns' fleet. It was loud, dirty, and people had avoided him ever since he came aboard.

Still better than Khar'Shan. At least on this ship he didn't have to worry about someone slitting his throat and gouging out his eyes in the dead of night.

It was pretty clear where he stood here though. Everyone either avoided him at all costs, or they gave him a look that could melt titanium.

Frankly, he didn't care either way. As long as he earned some kind of paycheck he could send back home, this was a victory.

Years of loyal service as a Ranger to the Hegemony were all for naught. His family still lived in the ghettos, barely surviving on the meager funds sent from the government for his service. All the while his brother was still in prison for crimes he didn't commit, despite repeated promises of his release.

He was fed up with it all. So, Solem figured the best way to help his family now was to leave Khar'Shan and find work out in the Terminus. Life would be no less forgiving, but it gave him a much better chance to earn a steady paycheck. Maybe if he made enough, he could pay off the warden and get his brother off-world, bring him into the Suns too.

"Hey, four eyes." The batarian turned to find the human known as 'Griggs' standing in the cramped doorway.

The alien stood, if not for the low ceiling, he would've easily towered over the man before him.

"We…uh…" Griggs eyed the batarian nervously for a moment, "…We're getting ready for an assignment, grab whatever gear you've got and meet up in the drop bay. I'll tell you the plan along the way."

Solem snorted at that. 'Whatever gear you've got.'

All he had was his worn-down Carnifex pistol and Ranger gauntlets, something he always promised himself he'd get rid off, but always end up keeping. Too useful.

Following the human out of his 'room', Solem kept his eyes locked on the back of the man's head and spoke.

"I'm going to need weapons and armor." Solem glanced down at for a moment before continuing, "Something lightweight, but can withstand a direct impact should the kinetic barriers fail."

The human burst into half-genuine, half-forced laughter, "You don't get it do you, four-eyes?" Griggs about-faced and shoved a finger in Solem's face. "You're a fucking _greenhorn_. You don't get to make demands or requests. You take what we fucking give you, and you prove your sorry ass out there in a firefight."

Solem just smirked. Then he pushed past the human, towards the armory.

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><p>Finally posted a new chapter of something, even though it was very short.<p>

Guys, holy shit. Spec Ops: The Line…I won't say anything about other than it's an experience like no other. Check it out, you gotta.

Anyways…

Peace.


End file.
